Jim Pattison brought an upbeat message for his first official visit to Vernon in some time. The BC billionaire from Vancouver was in the city to tour Kiss FM, the station he purchased four years ago, and says he'd like to buy more radio stations. "We've always liked radio. I've been in it quite a while and I like the business, and we think radio is going to do just fine and we're interested in growing the business."He already owns 29 FM stations in BC and Alberta, along with three TV stations, just part of his vast empire. The 82 year old also went on a bus tour of the area with his corporate team, guided by Vernon mayor Wayne Lippert and economic development manager Kevin Poole, to check out future opportunities. Pattison likes the Okanagan for investment. "We have recently got involved with Sun Rype in Kelowna, so it just depends on the industry. Some area are more suited for certain types of business than others, but in overall terms, the province of BC, the Okanagan Valley have no where to go but up." Pattison also owns Coopers, Save on Foods and a distribution system in the Vernon area. Pattison tells KISS FM, he's taken a close look into the pros and cons of the HST, even hiring independent people to study it. "I think the HST is the right decision to retain it for the overall long term benefit of the province." Pattison says keeping the tax will create more jobs. He also owns numerous car dealerships, sign and entertainment companies but doesn't have one company that's most special. "It's like any family and if you have a number of children...which one do you like the best? I like them all, and in our case, if we don't like it, we can sell it." Pattison is ranked by Forbes as the 3rd wealthiest person in Canada, and 173rd in the world, with an estimated fortune of 5.6 billion dollars.
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